Obama’s Constitution

by William A. Niskanen

At the beginning of his inaugural address, President Obama observed that

“America has carried on, not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because we the people have remained faithful to the ideals of our forebears and true to our founding documents.” [my italics]

Although Obama had taught constitutional law for 12 years, the rest of his address raises a question whether he has ever read the Constitution. For he spells out his vision by committing his administration to a wide range of activities for which there is little or no authority in the Constitution.

“We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place and wield technology’s wonders to raise health care’s quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age.”

Moreover, he asserts, our government should be judged by “whether it works — whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified,” not by such “stale political arguments” as whether the policies that might generate these outcomes are constitutional and generate benefits higher than the costs.

Nor are the commitments of his administration to be limited to those of greatest concern to Americans.

“To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow, to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to the suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world’s resources without regard to effect.”

“What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility – a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world.”

President Obama is intelligent and charming –- but not wise. The Constitution only authorizes the president to be the chief executive of the federal government and the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, ample challenges to the most skilled person, but the president is not the sole leader of the federal government, the American nation, or the free world. Based on his inaugural address, President Obama has no apparent sense of the limits of what he can and should do –- and that will reduce his effectiveness in addressing those issues within his clear authority.